Twilight Trails
by LJ Summers
Summary: My drabble/extremely short story collection for 2013. Not sure how many chapters it will have, but I do still take requests upon occasion. This will be where my mind wanders when it is probably supposed to be doing something else...
1. Their First Fight

**Their First Fight**

**An Emrys and Isa Moment**

_Written for **Katmom** for her birthday (I know it's not what you might have considered but it's what fell out of my head!)_

* * *

**Dateline: 1850, Somewhere in Brazil**

"I can't believe you did that." He stormed through the jungle, the steamy air clinging to his skin like rotting linen. "Isa. Your soul is so gentle. How could you have?"

She wasn't near him to answer, but she heard his voice. Her mental spikes were a tangle of fury and regret. Leaning against a thick-leafed tree, he dug his fingers into the bark and listened to her thoughts.

_He was killing them. Human women. Killing them!_ she lamented.

He could see her hands in her thoughts as she washed them in the small trickle of water that ran through the underbrush. Venom burned her skin and he ached that she was feeling that, but he was in such shock that he couldn't comfort her. Not yet. "He's a vampire. We are a rarity, my love. We have chosen not to kill people, but most of our kind do."

_I could not stand by and watch him, not after what we saw,_ she declared silently, her mental presence strong. _I am sorry you do not agree, but I will not change my mind._

They had been mated for more than two thousand years and her degree of mental communication was vivid, penetrating. Though he did not need her memories to prompt his own, Edward respected her enough to see it again, through her eyes and with her mental remarks.

As if to torment him, she showed him her memories.

The woman's screams were what caught their notice as they were hunting in this South American jungle. Edward had rescued humans when he could, from the violence of others or merely the violence of nature, so following the scream to its source was not uncommon. They had run through the verdant foliage, ignoring the cries of the animals as they careened out of the vampires' path.

A village, apparently abandoned, sprawled out through a cleared section of the jungle. As they reached it, Isa stopped at the edge, letting her mate lead the way. Two heartbeats were heard, fierce and fighting, and one more, muffled.

_What happened, do you think, my Edward?_ Isa had wondered. She stepped forward to his side when they smelled no vampires or other dangers.

"I don't know," he whispered. "But there are two women here and one of them is just seeing a baby and what she sees as a monster."

He did not know the words the women thought, but their mental images were enough. A woman who had wasted away, looking as if she were quite ill while her belly rounded obscenely, to her sister's eyes. The other could only think of the striking man who had lain with her, whose child she hoped to bear, no matter what the cost.

A smattering of words was exchanged but Edward only saw the face of the man. And what might have been his name.

Isa dashed to the opening of the hut from whence the hearts were beating, and she peeked in. Neither woman saw her at that moment, so she was witness to the most horrible thing she had ever seen in her entire existence.

The mother shrieked, a piercing, desperate sound. The baby ripped open its mother's body and crawled from the dying womb of its own volition.

Isa gasped, distracting the watching woman. Accusation leapt from the human eyes to the vampire's awareness and Isa remembered how that stung. It was as if the jungle woman thought that she, Isa, was responsible for the suffering of the other woman.

Taking a step forward, Isa held out her hand, even though her mate hissed at her and told her not to venture thus. "I am so sorry," Isa murmured.

Edward knew that the surviving human had only horrible thoughts about the presence of his kind but those thoughts were interrupted by a giggle and grunt.

And a scream as the infant latched itself onto the living life-beat of the woman to drink her blood.

Edward only was privy to the pain that the survivor suffered. He reached out to his mate, pulling her out of the hut with him. Isa remembered the feeling of his arms around her, the shock to her entire body that she had undergone, and the love she felt for The Emrys. Love that would never die.

"I love you," Edward said now, his fingers releasing their grip on the tree as he moved back along the way he had come, back to his Isa. Back to his mate. "I'm sorry I overreacted."

_I know you do. But I won't be sorry for what I did, even so_, she warned him.

A vampire came upon them while they stood outside of the humans' hut. A vampire smug and filled with his own power. Edward had seen his thoughts immediately. This was the vampire that had impregnated the woman.

"Joham?" he asked.

The vampire went on the defensive, his mind rushing to the idea of Edward and Isa stealing his rightful property.

"No," Edward had said, trying to calm him. He shook his head and lifted his hands. "No."

"_Este é meu!_" Mine, was the basic idea and Edward had simply nodded.

"Come, Bella," he said, his arm around his wife. "Come. This is the baby's father." Edward could see that the vampire had positive thoughts about the baby. "We should go."

"But Edward! He killed the woman," Isa had cried, her soul clearly wounded by what she had just witnessed.

The other vampire ducked into the hut, his long dark braid swinging over his shoulder like a rope. A happy laugh and words tinged in pride preceded Joham's reappearance. The child was male. A son. Joham's thoughts grew bright with an instant image of a crowd of half-human, half-vampire people.

Edward gasped at the presumption and moved again to try to get Isa away from him. The man was...unstable.

Isa remembered the birth of the baby they had seen in a little town called Bethlehem, so very long ago, and contrasted it with this occasion. Her thoughts roiled with an emotion so dark that Edward had to look her in the eye to be sure the thoughts were hers.

"Isa, my love?"

_He is _happy_. Happy he ended the life of the woman. Look at him!_

They looked and Joham was holding the baby as if it were a trophy of some sort. Edward shook his head. "We cannot change it, now."

Without a warning, Isa leapt forward, jerking the boy from his father's arms and throwing him at Edward. Edward had no choice but to catch the laughing infant who thought his impromptu flight was fun. While Joham gathered the wit to protest, Isa ripped off his arms.

Then his head.

Isa was standing by the tiny stream, her hands dripping with water when he saw her. "My love, my own Isa."

She used her voice and it was a precious sound, to him. "I couldn't bear to think of him doing that again, my Edward. I couldn't."

"I know."

She came to him and he enfolded her in his embrace. Forgiveness flowed between them, affection heated to passion. They knocked down two large trees and dug six furrows in the fertile soil before they had made up sufficiently to move onward, making sounds that astonished local Ticuna hunters.

The animals avoided that region for days afterward.

It was their first fight and Edward hated that it had happened. But in after years, he was proud of his mate for doing what she felt was right. He wondered if they would ever meet that half-human male again. It might be...interesting.

* * *

**In case you haven't met The Emrys and his Isa before, here is where you can find them in my collection, in historical order:**

Edward to Emrys (in which Edward is changed into a vampire) Twilight Moments, Chapter 41

She Was His First (the story that started it all) She Was His First

The Emrys's Regret (takes place immediately after SWHF) Twilight Moments, Chapter 15

The Emrys Among the Celts (Dateline 55 BC) Twilight Rambles, Chapter 3

Their First Christmas (Dateline 3 BC) Their First Christmas

Their First Elevator (Dateline 1908 AD, Chicago) Their First Elevator


	2. Last Place He Expected

**A/N: Not sure where this came from, exactly. Random neuron and a wish to see Jasper. I dunno. Entirely Canon, but it's Post-BD.**

* * *

**Last Place He Expected**

**Dateline: 2016, Laramie, Wyoming**

Surprise was the first emotion he registered. Surprise with an edge of nostalgia. It was the last that got Jasper's attention as he was unfolding himself from his apple-red 1965 Mustang convertible. It took him a moment to find the source, but he had already done so by the time they called his name.

"Jasper? Jasper Hale? No way!"

Her hair was darker and tamed, now, but Jasper never forgot a face. "Jessica? Stanley?" he asked, drawling it out to charm her.

It worked. She looked a little dazed as she smoothed down her business-casual outfit with her palms. "You remember me? That's so sweet!"

Yeah, her voice hadn't changed at all. "Yes, ma'am. What brings you here to Laramie?" He hefted his briefcase, which held his lecture notes.

"Oh!" she said, fluttering hands moving to the messenger bag she wore. "Um, yeah! So. I'm on the Spartans' Ten Year Reunion Committee." He nodded and she went on. "Like, Go Spartans, right?"

"Honestly, Jessica, I try not to think too much of high school." He looked significantly across Ivinson Avenue at the History Building. "I'm more into the college scene right now."

"Of course! But here, have this card, okay? I came out here because we're trying to track some of our Oh-Six class down and some of us are really hard to find." Her smile was bright and her manner unrelentingly cheerful. Jasper did his best not to roll his eyes. "You're here and so's Austin Marks."

"Uh, Jessica? I'm not even in your class, sugar," he reminded her, laying it heavy on the accent.

She blushed and her heart raced and Jasper swallowed back some venom. She might be annoying, but Jessica smelled good, today. "Oh, I totally know. I do. But I thought maybe if you could pass this along to Edward and Alice? Do you guys—are you still, you know...?"

"Family?" He smiled at her obvious embarrassment. "We're family, yes. Edward and Bella—"

"Oh, they're still together?"

Her emotions were on rock-and-roll frequency, jumping all over the place. "Yes, ma'am. They've even had a daughter. I'm an uncle," he added with a smile.

"And you and Alice...?"

He bobbed his head, as if a little sad. "Not for us. But we're happy being auxiliary parents."

She paused, clearly at a loss for words. Then, her motor revved again. "Well, that's great! So! Give Alice this card and have her register for our reunion, okay? I gotta go find Austin. He's working in Animal Something and doesn't even have e-mail!"

"I'll do that, Jessica. Y'all have a good day."

"You, too! And see you in Forks this summer!"

"Not if I see you first," he whispered, crossing the street and passing between the stately pines in front of the History Building. "Alice," he whispered to himself, "I am going to tie you in knots for not warning me about that."

When his phone rang buzzed immediately thereafter, he grinned. "Hi, sweetie!" his wife said in his ear when answered. "Knots, huh? Kinky! I'll be waiting!"


	3. Oasis

**Oasis**

**For SagaDevotee's birthday. Happy Birthday, hon!**

_Starting with the 2012 drabble: "The Little Things" (Twilight Rambles, Chapter Nine)_

* * *

It's the little things.

When one is in the whispering desert, a bright sound – however slight – captures the attention. When one is in darkness, the smallest match-flame flares noticeably. When one lives in the still, cool solitude of a lonely heart, any kindred feeling brings warmth.

He didn't expect to find the light, the welcome sound, the warmth – not here. Not with her.

Broken, weary, she still stood up to them – stood up to them all. And in her determination, he heard that resonant frequency as a bright sound, a light, a warmth that soothed and intrigued him.

It was the little things.

The warmth of her caring. "I've been so worried," she said.

The soul-dragging of her voice, desperate but strong. "Please, just talk to me."

The flare of fire in her eyes. "What did you do?" she demanded, glaring at him in a moment that changed everything.

But that warmth, the sound of her voice, the fire – they weren't for him. He gathered his will, wrapped it around his heart like plate armor, and jerked his head toward the tree line. The others growled quietly but heeded his directive. All save for _him_, the one whom she had come to see.

And though it hurt and puzzled him, he knew that he would let her do as she felt was best as long as she was safe.

But Jacob would have to be told that Bella Swan was the _Alpha's_ Imprint. "You can tell her," the actual Alpha told the genetic Alpha. "Answer her questions. Just remember who imprinted on her."

Swearing under his breath, Jake crunched a path to Bella's red truck. From the trees, Sam heard, "Fine. We'll talk. Let's get you out of the rain, huh?"

It was the little things.

Little pale hands bunched in fists. Small feet in soggy Converse sneakers. And a quick look over her shoulder.

He met that look with his own and was somehow comforted enough to go.

* * *

He was waiting for her behind Jake's house. The rain had masked their conversation while it lasted but the downpour had lessened to a drizzle and he could hear it all.

It was the little things.

Her heartbeat—new but patterned in his mind—as it raced and slowed while Jake wove the tail of the spirit warriors.

The sound of her feet on the Black's back porch as she paced out her evident agitation.

Sam phased wolf so as to best access all his senses, thankful that there was only one other set of wolf eyes on patrol. Jared had imprinted already, so he understood this obsession.

"So, there's nothing he can do about it?" Her voice . . . it sliced through his chest and he whimpered in a lupine way that made him angry at himself. "He doesn't have a choice?"

"Bells, it's like he won't even want one, okay? Really, he just—"

There was silence within the house and Sam found himself circling in the moist air, breathing out visible puffs that dissipated with his steps through them. He felt as if his fur was standing up, his lupine heart beat madly in his chest, and he wanted nothing so much as to bound across the empty space that separated him from Her so that he could smell her.

Touch her.

_Taste_ her.

"He just what?" she asked, her voice stretched.

Every instinct in him yearned to comfort her. To remind her how strong she was. To let her know that he would never hurt her.

Unlike some.

Unlike even his own Pack Brother.

_Now, that was your fault_, Jared reminded him. _You Alpha-Ordered him, Boss_.

"I can just take you home, Bells," Jake offered.

It was the little things.

The resolve in her voice. "No. No, I'm not running. I'm not _weak_, Jake. I'm not. I want to, want to _see_ him."

The determination in her eyes when she came from the house to stand on the small wooden stoop. "Sam?"

The way she met his gaze when he emerged from the pine scented shadows. Calm, a little wary but not afraid, she stepped to the ground with one hand held in front of her.

He wanted to smile but instead he stepped slowly toward her, head down in a submissive posture. When he reached her, he knelt on the wet ground, his only hope breathing right in front of him.

"Sam?" she asked again, her voice no longer wary but wondering. Her heart raced a bit, but he smelled no fear on her.

Gaining courage, he inched more closely to her, on his stomach, and nudged her thigh with his nose.

_Bliss! Love! Devotion! Longing!_ The emotions pressed into him as he inhaled her scent, as if they were the air itself, pressurized and intense. He drank her in like champagne, savoring and feeling giddy as he did so. _Bella . . . _

Jared, with whom he was still connected, laughed a little in the way they had when they were in their fur. _Isn't it the best?_

_Yes. _

No longer broken, her weariness not in evidence, his imprint caressed his head, between his ears. He felt the pleasure of her touch rumble in his body and his eyes closed involuntarily. His desert had an oasis and her name was Isabella Swan.


	4. Heart of Rock and Roll

Written for FanFicFlashFic at blogspot dot com. See their Week 20 prompt for this drabble. **AnnaLund**, this is for you.

* * *

I'm singing with Huey Lewis and the News and their song, "Heart of Rock and Roll" when I get to the part that mimics a heartbeat. A grin on my face, I pull off the road and sing with the CD. On the words "Boston and-a Baton Rouge," she pulls off right in front of me.

"Y'all right?" she calls, staying by her car door. Smart woman. "Can I call someone for you?"

"Just singing." I crank up the volume until I can feel the woofer vibrate near my leg.

She laughs and tosses caramel-colored hair over her shoulder. The sunlight planes over her face and I imagine she's a few years older than I, judging by the slight lines I detect around her eyes.

I step out of my car, too. It's been a long time since someone intrigued me. "Can I check your heartbeat?" I ask, leaning against my car.

"What, are you a doctor?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Dr. Cullen."

"Esme Platt, Doctor." She still doesn't approach, but angles her head flirtatiously. "How about you follow me for two miles and I'll let you tell me all about your practice over coffee."

I follow.

* * *

**_E/N: I know it's short. The limit for these is 200 words. Imagine that. I've done others, but they aren't usually Twilight-related. :)_**


	5. Impotence

**Impotence**

**for Bells. Just Bells who wanted some Jasper.**

_"Sugar," he says to Bells, "I tried for something sweet because I know you like it, but you know LJ. Always out to share the dark side."_

* * *

"Did you see her? Jackie? Did you?" Alice was bouncing up and down on her tiny toes. "That look is going to be _so_ classic. Just you wait."

Jasper grinned and lazily stretched his arm over his mate's shoulders. "Want me to hoist you up on my shoulders like that fella and his kid? You'll see better."

With a slight laugh, she said she'd like that. She was wearing pedal pushers and a long-sleeved blouse—seeing women in trousers still made him do a double-take on occasion—so he all but tossed her to his shoulders, gripping one thigh with his broad palms.

All around him, hearts were pulsing, pushing living blood through living bodies. He was only here because he wanted to see the parade. The cavalcade.

Since he'd found Alice in that tiny diner back in 1948, he'd done his best to adhere to the diet that the Cullen family claimed but it was hard. Hard enough that he had to get away, once in a while. Hard enough that he couldn't take the temptations anymore and "slipped" as the family said.

Hard enough that even being indoors with a human was too much to take. Out here in Dealey Plaza at noon in late November was about as much humanity as he could stand. Even so, he and Alice had hunted west of this huge city the night before.

"We'll need it," she had said, her eyes narrowed into the night.

As she settled herself on his shoulders, he could feel her slender fingers comb through his hair, soothing him somewhat. "Jasper?"

"Yes, sugar?" Anticipation rose in a crest from the humans around them. Rising like the sea at high tide. Building, rolling, as the first police motorcycles were spotted.

"Remember, we can't interfere."

He froze, his fingers digging into her for a moment before he caught himself and resumed his former hold. "What?"

"He's going to do it. And we can't do anything. We can't."

"Do what, Alice?" he hissed.

Her hands stilled. "Up there. In the book depository."

The cheers began, and a sense of adulation rolled over the crowd who were out here on this mild day. "Mr. President!"

"Mr. President! Welcome!"

"Oh, look, doesn't Jackie look fabulous?"

But the words flew by him, as inconsequential as a breath. For he could see, up there across the square. He could see the man. And the rifle.

"Alice," he whispered, "we have to. I can't stand by and—"

"We'll get caught."

They were under a tree, just now, and he wore long sleeves while she had a parasol for when they had to re-enter the sunlight. He swore, loudly enough to garner attention they didn't need. "Dammit, Alice. He's the President!"

A man in a dark suit and sunglasses glanced his way and Jasper inhaled quick and tried to look harmless. Meanwhile, his far-too-agile mind was racing. He could run fast. Faster than any of the Secret Service men could possibly hope to catch even if they saw him. He could reach the man with the rifle.

But he'd be shining like that cartoon pixie from Peter Pan if he tried it. And Maria wasn't far from Dallas; this much he knew. He'd just as soon not be noticed by any of her spies.

If he had a functioning heart, it would have been racing at that moment. There was President Kennedy and his pretty little wife. Alice was over the moon about the First Lady. Right now, though, his little spitfire was choking on sobs...

"Alice, sugar. C'mon. We shouldn't see—you don't need to see this."

Her voice broke when she said, "I do. I have to. I just do."

He tried projecting caution toward President Kennedy. He tried projecting anything to the man in the window. Hilarity. Woe. Terror. But that man up there was impervious to his gift. And the man in the topless car seemed not to notice anything save the people that were waving to him.

There was a shot. The report of a rifle. And then all Hell broke loose there in Dallas, Texas.

* * *

Later, they'd catch the repeated viewings of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. They'd see pictures of how his little boy saluted the horse-drawn carriage that bore the body of his father. Jasper mourned for the loss of that father. That president.

He mourned and raged and tore trees out of the earth and broke rocks in his fury. For all of his strength and speed and skill at battle, he had been able to do nothing.

At last, feeling drained and more impotent than he had ever felt even dismembered at Maria's feet, he dragged himself back to Alice. She drew him into her embrace and he clung to her, his body shaking and his own voice erupting in gasping sobs.

Alice held him, strong enough to bear his weakness, until he mastered himself and then he held his little psychic, his love, his wife as she wept for the death of something that could have been beautiful.

"It was going to be so splendid," she whispered. "But it's all changed, now."


	6. Flapper

**A/N: This is another drabble written for FanFicFlashFic - check out that blog on blogspot and look for the weekly contest! This week's prompt inspired me to go Twilighty with my entry so I thought I'd share it here. My thanks to shellisthimbles for sponsoring this every week. Note: the limit for these drabbles is 100 - 200 words total. That's why they're so short.**

* * *

_**The prompt: **__"I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything." -F. Scott Fitzgerald _

**The entry:**

She strode into the speakeasy with a confidence that drew the eyes of every man. Clearly a flapper of some sophistication, she was quickly flanked by two men and guided to a small bistro table.

"What'll you have?" the bronze-haired man inquired, his voice velvety smooth.

His friend, a striking blond fellow who could have been in pictures, leaned back with a smile. "I'd wager you're not a bathtub gin kind of girl. What's your name, sweetheart?"

With the tilt of her chin, her golden bob moved beguilingly. "Rosalie Hale."

The younger of her companions swallowed visibly. "_The_ Rosalie Hale?"

His friend laughed lightly. "Then, my dear, you'll want a martini."

A small jazz quartet played unobtrusively in one corner, their music weaving between the curls of smoke through the alcoholic ambiance. Rosalie Hale seemed to have been born for this place, her bearing nearly regal, her flaming youth a beacon in a dark and shady world.

At length, she stood. Her gaze direct, she pointed at the men who had bought her drinks that evening. "Want to walk a lady home?"

"Absolutely," they said in unison.

Her leaving garnered as much attention as her entrance.

* * *

**E/N: In other news, I recently re-released a romance (formerly self-published), and am currently writing the third novel of my Viking trilogy. Haven't forgotten my fics, honest. They're just taking a back seat for a while. Thanks for putting up with me!**


	7. Moonwalk

**Moonwalk **

**Prompted by Bow to your sensei, here's another historical moment.**

* * *

"Look at him," Esme murmured fondly, love shining in her eyes. "I've never seen him so enthralled."

Alice was sitting in a corner, her eyes squeezed shut. Jasper, _his_ eyes practically glued to the black and white images on their television, winced a little before sending a wave of calm across the room. "Hon, ya gotta relax. There's not a thing on Earth you can do about any of it, now."

Emmett snorted. Using his vampiric speed and eye for detail, he was building a "space rocket" out of Lego® bricks. "Not a thing on the Moon, either, sis."

"But, so many things have gone—I mean could go wrong. He stumbles and rips a hole in his suit and dies. Dust gets in the rocket and they can't leave! Their faces, Jasper...!" She shuddered and Esme flashed to her side to embrace her tenderly.

The front door all but crashed open. "I didn't miss it. Good." Edward slid into the kitchen, dropping his prop books on the pristine countertop. "I had to drive right at the speed limit, Carlisle. Had a police officer trailing me."

That wrenched the coven leader's attention from the flickering black and white television screen. "Again? Edward..."

"I know. But it's fine. This one recognized me as your son. And you saved his wife's life in childbirth last month, so..."

With a resigned expression, Carlisle returned his focus to the black and white screen. Walter Cronkite, the most trusted newsman in the business, was presiding. Experienced though the man was, it was clear that he was excited and anxious. Carlisle didn't blame him.

"Buzz, this is Houston, F-2 and..."

"Whose voice is that?" Edward wondered in a subsonic whisper.

"That's McCandless in Houston," Emmett replied. "He's overseeing—"

"Yes, yes..."

Neil Armstrong's voice came next. "Okay, I'm at the..."

McCandless filled in what Armstrong was listening for. "The 1-160th second for shadow photography on the sequence camera."

"Okay," came another voice that Cronkite quickly identified as Buzz Aldrin's.

Then, Carlisle actually bounced a little on the floor when Neil Armstrong announced, "Okay. I'm going to step off the LM now."

"What's the LM?" Edward inquired, his voice a buzz in the breathless silence of the Cullen living room. Even Emmett was holding perfectly still.

Rosalie was leaning forward herself. "Lunar Module. Shut up. Look."

The family gasped as one. "Look! They got the camera on. Look at that."

They could see it. "The Moon. God in Heaven," Carlisle said, his voice raspy with emotion. Alice at last came out of her corner to sit in Jasper's lap, her attention now riveted on the screen. She nodded to herself.

With seemingly infinite slowness, Neil Armstrong moved, saying, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Emmett bounced to his feet, whooping as if he were once again a boy in Tennessee, out playing with his brothers. "The moon! I've gotta go there, man!" Scooping his wife into his arms, he kissed her with a thoroughness that generally sent the pair of them into seclusion.

Not that day.

For weeks afterward, Carlisle and Esme would recline on the grass in the backyard, watching the moon as soon as it was visible. "Centuries, darling. Centuries have we studied the moon and now..."

"We've been there," Esme would say to finish his sentence. Her voice was soft, tender. She loved her husband with all that she was and was happy to embrace his interests when he was so profoundly moved.

"I wonder," he sometimes said afterward, as they watched the heavens, "I wonder if we'll get to go back? Or if a private citizen would ever be able to see that?"

Esme smiled and kissed his cheek. "We'll buy tickets for the first trip," she assured him.

* * *

A/N: Direct quotes taken from Nasa and their website at: w w w .hq . nasa. gov / alsj / a11 / a11. step. h tm l


	8. Attention

**Attention**

**A/N: A birthday drabble for my dear friend MegsD2. I caught her on Gchat with a "Gimme a pairing for your birthday!" And she tossed me Jake and Jessica. **

**Really. This one's all on her. :) Happy birthday, Megs!**

* * *

"Oh. Em. Gee," Jessica said, leaning in to the center of the table she was sharing with Angela at the diner. "So. My mom heard it from Amanda, at the station, who was at the bank this afternoon, right?"

Angela, long used to Jessica's drama queen tendencies, sipped at her soda and wished Ben would come and rescue her like he'd promised. "Heard what?"

"That Bella Swan reported seeing giant _wolves_ in the forest!" Her eyes were huge and round over her soda. "I mean, come on, right? Last time she and I went anywhere, she almost took up with a biker gang!" Looking around, she whispered, "I don't think she's _all there_ anymore, you know?"

Jessica was gratified when Angela gave her her full and complete attention. "Jess!"

"What? You know it's true."

"She's been doing a lot better, lately. Really."

"Whatever." Austin Marks and Amanda from the girls basketball team came in then and Jessica smiled at Austin. He nodded, but that was all. Jessica frowned and slid a french fry from her plate. "So—Oh. Em. Gee," she said again, her voice sounding truly awed.

Angela just sounded tired. "What?"

"Look! It's a bunch of the Q-guys, you know? What are they feeding them on the Rez, anyway?"

"Jess! Don't stare, it's not—Oh. My." Angela blinked and came half-out of the booth near the window. "Wow. Wait. That guy, that one there? Isn't that Jacob Black? He showed up at Prom last year, you know. He sure wasn't that big last spring."

Jessica remembered Jacob because he'd talked to Bella Swan, like every other guy in Forks. Tossing her head, she studied the boys more carefully, looking to see which one was Jacob Black. And then, one of the guys must have said something funny because the rest laughed and she recognized Jake by his smile. And her heart gave a funny little thump. "When'd he get so hot?" she wondered out loud.

Someone else came into the diner, then, but Jessica barely noticed.

"Hey, Jess," a boy said.

She turned quickly and saw that Ben had slid in next to Angela. "Hey, Ben." A thought occurred to her. "Hey! Do you know the guys out there? From the Rez?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "Jess, don't be so obvious, huh?"

Jessica cocked her head. "Who, me? Hey, I'm gonna jet. So, I'll see you guys on Monday, right?" Tossing some money on the table, she waved at Austin and Amanda and headed out the door.

It was like she couldn't help herself. The boys were totally ignoring her, too, which irritated her. Real quick, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and tugged on her sweater. It was a light one, for spring, and it left just a sliver of skin above her jeans. No time to whip out the lipgloss or anything, so she just clamped her lips tight between her teeth until it hurt a little and then let them go. This always made them a little more pink for a second.

They still hadn't looked at her.

Time to try something more obvious. "Jacob Black? Have you seen Bella, lately?"

That worked. Now all those tall, dark, and definitely handsome boys were staring right at her. Jacob was frowning, looking a little sulky, until he looked her in the eye. And then—

"Who are you?" he wondered, his smile coming back and brightening even the overcast Forks afternoon.

She smiled and tossed her head, happy to have his attention. "Jessica Stanley. Bella and I are friends, right? I wanted to talk to her about—" Desperate to keep his attention, she tossed out the first thing that came to mind. "About college stuff. We're both applying right now."

"Jessica," Jacob said, his voice warm and as welcome as his smile. One of the other guys groaned out loud and shook his head. Another snorted with laughter and clapped Jacob on the shoulder. He didn't seem to notice as he took one long stride to stand next to her. "Uh, hey. No, haven't seen Bells lately, but we can go over, if you want."

He was so warm! It was like he was his own personal space heater. She stuck out her hand, hardly aware that she did so. "Okay, sure. So, you gonna introduce me to your friends?"

"Uh, sure. This is Sam, and Embry, and Jared, and Paul."

The boys towered over her and Jessica felt kind of intimidated. Being so close to them, they all looked like men, not boys, and that made her shrink back against Jacob a little. With that bright smile and welcome expression, he wasn't intimidating at all, even if he was taller than all the others. "Uh, hi?"

The man named Sam shook his head with an air of amused resignation. "Well, bring her to the bonfire, Jacob, next week, okay? And be careful," he added, his gaze suddenly hard.

Jacob Black put his arm around her and Jessica felt a thrill all the way down to her toes. "Yeah. Of course." He turned her a little to face him. "So, you wanna go find Bells?"

His eyes were dark, but they were warm and so focused on her and seemed to shine a little. She couldn't look away. "Um, sure, if you want. Or, you could tell me about the bonfire?" The others started walking away and Jessica really hoped that, for a minute anyway, Jacob Black would stay right where he was.

"You've never been to one?" he asked.

"Not with you guys from La Push, no."

He smiled again and seemed to notice he had his arm around her, right on the sidewalk in front of the diner. His cheeks might have darkened with his blush. "Then, honey, you haven't been to a bonfire," he said after his smile returned.

"You have a great smile," Jessica blurted.

He grinned and, again, it was as if the sun exploded from a cloudy sky. "Thanks."

They walked down the street while he told her about the bonfire, and when his hand grabbed hers to cross the street, she twined her fingers with his.

It was as if she didn't have to ask for his attention at all; she had it. It was an instinctive sort of comfort that warmed her as much as his hand did.

When Bella's name finally came up between them again, Jessica wondered, "Did you hear that she reported seeing giant wolves yesterday?"


End file.
